Letters to Ellie: Memorial Day

Memorial Day is when our nation chooses to specially honor the men and women in our armed forces who have given their lives for this country. As a national holiday, many people look forward to it as a three-day weekend at the beginning of the summer season. I hope that you will honor and respect this day as something more.

What makes our country unique and has held it together in the centuries since its birth is that we are governed by the rule of law. The Constitution was created to establish an objective document describing how our government is to function, what its roles and responsibilities are, how law is created, administered, and adjudicated, and how the government itself can be changed. The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution precisely to further protect the rights of the people and prevent abuses by the government.

Under the Constitution, we have a military that exists to prevent foreign powers from violating our rights by force or coercion. Since 1973, the United States has had an all-volunteer military. That means that everyone who works to protect us chooses to do so. Their oath is to uphold and defend the Constitution – and, thus, the rule of law – against all threats. I once took a similar oath when I worked in intelligence. Much of my job was providing the armed services with the information they needed to protect themselves against enemy weapons.

Whether you choose to follow my path in civil service or that of our other family members who have served in the Air Force, Navy, and Marines or not at all, remember that we have obligations as citizens to those who serve. First and foremost, we have the responsibility of not sending them in harm’s way unless absolutely necessary. Whether we are talking about two nations or two people, the use of force is only justified in self-defense or to stop an imminent threat. Our Constitution also ensures civilian control of the military, with the President as commander-in-chief, so the best way we can meet our obligation is to elect government officials who respect that responsibility and vote out of office those who do not.

Just as important and, in many ways, just as neglected an obligation is our responsibility to take care of our veterans after their term of service is over. Military service can take a toll on the body and the mind that is not easily repaired, even if the soldier, sailor, or airman never fires a gun. You have aunts and uncles that have seen things they can’t un-see. They still carry with them injuries from the intense demands, heavy physical labor, and, sometimes, the violence of their service – whether loading ordnance, repairing aircraft at sea, or surviving an explosive attack on a vehicle. Our veterans deserve nothing less than for our nation to give them the care and aid they need to live meaningful lives beyond their service.

All that said, we also have an obligation to give the military the respect that it is due – no more or less – and to hold it accountable for acting in our nation’s best interests. We shouldn’t let a false sense of reverence allow violations of the law or of human rights to continue. The worst of these are the crimes done by veterans against other veterans. The pervasiveness of sexual assault within military ranks and the failure of our leadership in meaningfully addressing that problem dishonor the memories of the fallen. That is not what they died to protect.

We best honor our veterans and their sacrifices not by blind faith or stickers on our cars, but by being conscientious citizens who demand accountability from our leaders, insist that the nation properly compensate their service, and invest ourselves in their care. Your mother and I have supported groups like the Wounded Warrior Project for years. She even chose to work at a VA hospital because she wants to do her part to make sure our veterans get the medical care they need. Whatever path in life you choose, I hope you will remember that Memorial Day isn’t just about celebrating. It’s about service and commemorating what we should do every day to respect those who gave their lives protecting our way of life.

I have said this before and my comment received a lot of “thumbs down” but I firmly believe we should impose a “war tax” on every American’s income that automatically kicks in when a pre-established number of troops are committed in a combat zone. I think that it would act as a deterrent for those who don’t have any skin in the game. I have three wonderful kids and I don’t want any group of politicians placing them in harms way unless we face an imminent threat. In addition we have learned that wars are not “free”. The cost is very high in both human life and dollars and the effect is felt on the economy for many years.

If a threat is real and imminent then every taxpayer should be more than willing to give a larger portion of their paycheck to help in our defense.